


Falling for You

by its_me_that_writes



Series: Klance Positivity Week 2019 [6]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-31
Updated: 2019-05-31
Packaged: 2020-04-05 18:03:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19045600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/its_me_that_writes/pseuds/its_me_that_writes
Summary: On your thirteenth birthday, a date and time appears on your left forearm. It happens for everyone. It’s the date and time that you meet your soulmate.





	Falling for You

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for Klance Positivity week. I didn't want it to get too long because I didn't want to run out of time, but I may edit it be longer and have more detail.

On your thirteenth birthday, a date and time appears on your left forearm. It happens for everyone. It’s the date and time that you meet your soulmate. Everyone Keith has ever known has looked forward to that fateful moment, but he’s dreaded that day ever since his mark appeared.

Keith has always been a bit nervous about meeting his soulmate; long before he was aware of the specifics of his fated meeting. It started as a kid, when he realized he was interested in boys, and not girls. That’s when he started asking questions:

“How does the soulmate magic know? How does it know who the right person is?” He would ask his mom.

“It just does,” his mom would tell him. “Your soulmate is the person who is the best match for you.”

“Do you have to fall in love with your soulmate?” he would ask his dad.

“You don’t have to, but most people do,” his dad would say. “It’s easy to fall in love with your perfect match.”

No matter who he asked, they all said the same thing: your soulmate was your perfect match. But how could Keith be sure that this universe-prescribed person really was his perfect match? He never liked the idea that the choice of who to be with could be taken from him. He wanted to choose his own destiny, forge his own path. He wasn’t sure he like the idea of his fate being decided for him.

At least he had some time. He wasn’t going to meet his soulmate until he was nineteen. So, in the meantime, Keith decided he was going to enjoy life. He would go on dates and let himself fall for people; even let himself get his heart broken. But he wasn’t going to sit around and wait for a soulmate he was unsure of, a soulmate that he knew nothing about.

When he was nineteen he could decide whether or not he wanted to give his soulmate a chance, but he wasn’t going to let the universe decide for him.

Keith lived his life. He got his heart broken more times than he would care to admit, but people seemed to drop everything when they met their soulmate. Sometimes Keith would be interested in someone only to learn that they were waiting for their soulmate and not at all interested in him.

His latest heartbreak happened only two weeks ago. It was the usual story. His boyfriend of a year broke up with him after meeting his soulmate in the junk food aisle of the supermarket. He apologized over and over to Keith, but in the end he still left, all because of a mark on his arm. Keith bitterly hopes they both get fat.

There’s a knock on his door and Keith rolls his eyes in annoyance. He doesn’t feel like getting up. _They’ll go away after a moment._ The knock sounds again. Keith huffs a sigh and hauls himself up from his couch to answer it.

“What!?” he growls as he swings the door open.

Wide eyes and raised eyebrows greet him. Shiro’s hand is still raised, ready to knock again. Pidge and Matt are behind him, colorful bags and balloons in their hands.

“We had birthday plans. Did you forget?” Shiro asks.

Keith groans. He’s really not in the mood to go out. He just got dumped and he hates large groups of people.

“No, I just forgot it was today,” Keith replies and steps aside to let them in.

The trio enters and sets down the gifts.

“You ready to go? We have our reservation in twenty minutes.” Shiro’s voice is polite, but expectant.

“Yeah. Let me just grab my jacket.” It’s no use arguing or complaining to Shiro that his birthday was four days ago and he really doesn’t need a celebration. Shiro will just pull the big brother card and Keith will end up going along anyway.

The restaurant is nice, a little crowded for Keith, but the food is good. Shiro must have mentioned to their waiter that it was Keith’s birthday because he gets a slice of cake and a serenade by the wait staff at the end of their meal. He thoroughly hates it, but it shouldn’t be long now before he can go back home to peace and quiet.

“Happy birthday, Keith!” Shiro says clapping him on the shoulder after the song is finished.

“Yeah. Eat up. We have some dancing to do!” Pidge chimes in.

“What?” Keith doesn’t remember dancing being on the schedule.

“We’re going dancing! You need to get over this breakup, no better way to meet someone new than on the dance floor!”

Keith scowls. They’re all smiling at him. They have always been supportive of Keith, and almost never bring up the soulmate thing, but they do find ways to meddle.

“Guys, I don’t -”

“Nope! You’re going!” Pidge cuts in. “You’ve been cooped up in that dorm of yours for too long! You’re nineteen! Live a little!”

Keith just groans and finishes his cake.

The club is crowded, but the music is good and the dance floor is full. There are a number of attractive guys that Keith notices. This is a normal dance club, though; so there’s no way to tell if they’d be interested.

Matt and Pidge break off and head directly for the dance floor. Keith swings by the bar to grab a water while Shiro takes up residence at a small table.

“I got one for you, too,” Keith says dropping the extra water bottle on the table when he returns. He looks around the room, scanning the people.

Pidge and Matt are dancing like idiots. Keith feels himself smile as he realizes they’ve started a dance battle just between the two of them.

“Aren’t you going to dance?” Shiro asks from beside him.

“I don’t know, I might join the wonder twins over there. In a bit.”

Shiro chuckles as he takes in the brother and sister duo. Keith scratches at his arm.

“You should try to have fun. That’s the whole reason they dragged you out here.”

“I know” Keith sighs.

He pulls out the chair next to Shiro and sits down. He takes a sip from his water and scratches at his arm again. It’s been bothering him since he stopped at the bar.

Keith scans the crowd again and makes eye contact with a guy across the room. It’s too short, the guy looks away and then turns away physically. Keith sighs and scratches at his arm, again. This is getting annoying. He pushes back the left sleeve of his jacket to see what’s causing the itch and immediately freezes.

He feels like his heart stops. It can’t be. Keith pulls out his phone and checks the time and date. It is.

He hasn’t thought about his own mark in months, at least, and now it’s snuck up on him. This is it. This is when he meets his soulmate.

Keith scans the room, looking for something different this time. Looking for someone else whose arm is itching. Someone who might be looking for him. The itching won’t stop until they touch, Keith knows this, and he really wants it to stop.

His eyes flit around the room again. There are so many people. _What if the magic sometimes gets it wrong?_ Keith thinks as a minute passes. _What if they’re not even here? Or worse, what if it’s a girl?_

Keith’s eyes pass over the dance floor, slowly this time. His eyes jump back to a pair of guys when he sees one pull up his left sleeve. The one looking at his arm is tall, thin, with brown hair and tan skin. The other boy is more robust, stockier, and wearing a yellow sweatband on his head. He’s also tan, but he has darker hair, black by the looks of it. The lighting in the dance club isn’t the best.

The brown-haired boy smacks at his companion. They both look down at his arm and then at each other in shock. The brown-haired boys starts looking around the room.

 _That must be him._ Keith thinks. _At least he’s a boy._

The boy’s mouth is hanging open as he looks around; his eyes are wide and full of hope. He looks downright excited. His eyes pass right over Keith, darting around the room and only stopping occasionally. _He’s looking at all the girls._

 _What if the magic gets it wrong?_ Keith thinks again as he stares at his soulmate. Keith still has his sleeve pushed up and he’s just staring.

“You see someone?” Shiro asks, breaking Keith from his thoughts. Keith turns to look at him.

“Uh, I don’t know,” he responds, not really sure what to say. He doesn’t want to tell Shiro that his soulmate is standing just over there on the dance floor. He doesn’t even know if he _wants_ to meet his soulmate, other than to stop this terrible itching.

“Hunk! Do you see anyone!?”

Keith turns his head in the direction of the sound, his attention going back to the boy the universe seems to have picked for him. He furrows his eyebrows.

This boy couldn’t possibly be his perfect match. He’s overly excited, he’s apparently very loud, and he hasn’t even noticed Keith sitting here with his sleeve pushed up. Keith sighs.

_Might as well get this over with._

“I’ll be right back,” Keith says, pushing the chair back as he stands.

He makes his way over to the pair, who are still looking around the room. Keith still has his sleeve pushed up as he approaches. The brown-haired boy turns in his direction and catches sight of him. His eyes stay wide, but expression drops. He’s staring at Keith in shock.

 _This is going to go well._ Keith thinks sarcastically. _Maybe it’s not him._

There’s only one way to find out. Keith sticks out his hand to the boy, keeping his face blank.

“I’m Keith.”

The boy just looks down to his hand and then back up at his face. His companion, Hunk, has turned now and is watching the interaction. Keith can feel Shiro’s eyes on his back. _This is very public._

“Shake his hand.” The companion nudges the boy’s shoulder.

The boy juts out his hand and it collides with Keith’s roughly. Keith grasps his fingers and shakes the boy’s hand. The itching sensation fades almost instantly. Keith feels his heart drop. There’s pain in his chest for this boy who was clearly not expecting him. Keith drops his hand.

The boy is staring at his now empty hand, his face contorted in confusion.

“Introduce yourself,” his companion prods, whispering, but the boy doesn’t move. “Lance.”

“That’s alright,” Keith says. “If he wants to talk, I’ll be over there.” Keith jabs his thumb over his shoulder indicating the table he just came from, and walks away.

“Is that your soulmate?” Shiro questions as he returns to the table. He’s looking past Keith and assessing the boy across the room.

“Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you say you were going to meet him today?”

“I didn’t remember.”

“He’s cute, at least.”

Keith scoffs. “Yeah, well, something tells me he was expecting someone else.”

Shiro turns his head to look at him then and gives him a sad smile.

“I’m sorry, Keith. Are you okay? Do you want to leave?”

Keith looks to where the two boys have moved off the dance floor. _Lance. He is cute._ He decides to give this boy, his soulmate, a chance, if he even wants it. What’s the worst that could happen?

“No. I want to at least give him the chance to talk to me,” Keith replies. “And I’m alright. I feel bad for him, though.”

Shiro nods and gets up from the table.

“I’ll be on the dance floor, then,” he says and walks away.

 

— — —

 

Keith keeps glancing over at the brown-haired boy, Lance, his soulmate. They are still here, still chatting. They’ve been deep in conversation for most of the last half hour.

Keith sighs. He’s out of water and he’s thirsty. He glances at the bar, then back at his soulmate. They’re still engrossed in conversation. Keith will only be a minute at the bar.

He gets up from his seat and walks over, already getting his money out. He orders the water and the bartender goes to grab it.

There’s a shuffling behind him. Someone else coming up to get a drink. Keith shifts a bit to give them room.

“Hi.”

Keith pauses at the greeting. It came from the new person behind him. The voice is soft and timid, but it’s pleasant; and it clearly belongs to a guy. It’s like a refreshing breeze on a hot day, or the first bite of his favorite food. It does something to Keith’s heart. Keith hangs his head a bit; he can’t believe he’s going to turn away the only guy who’s approached him all evening.

He turns around to face the guy and his heart stops as his eyes fall on Lance.

“Hi,” Keith says back. His heart is beating hard now. He shouldn’t be reacting this way, but he is. He wasn’t expecting this. _It’s been a night for that,_ he thinks.

“Here’s your water,” the bartender says and Lance’s eyes snap to him, away from Keith. Keith places his money on the bar and murmurs his thanks.

The bartender walks away and Lance’s eyes practically drill a hole into the bartop. Keith just waits. After a moment, Lance speaks.

“My friend said I should at least come talk to you.” Lance’s voice is timid, nervous. “I’m Lance.”

Lance looks back up to him then and Keith’s heart breaks a little at the fear and uncertainty in his eyes. Keith sticks his hand out, forces a smile to his face, and speaks in the most pleasant and reassuring voice he can muster.

“I’m Keith. It’s nice to meet you.”

Lance’s lips curve up for a second, but he still looks nervous as he shakes Keith’s hand.

“I’m sorry about earlier.” Lance starts. “I was just… surprised.”

Keith nods. Lance rubs at the back of his neck and looks toward the dance floor.

“I’ve never…”

“Never dated a guy.” Keith finishes after the silence stretches a bit to long.

Lance’s cheeks color and he nods shallowly.

Keith takes him in for a moment. His posture is stiff and his hands are now stuffed in the pockets of his jeans. He looks so nervous.

“Are you even attracted to guys?” Keith asks gently.

“I…” Lance flushes more, still not looking at him. “I mean… I’ve noticed when guys are hot, but… I…”

Keith looks over to where Shiro, Matt, and Pidge are. He sees them all look away obviously.

“Look, it’s alright,” Keith tells him, looking back at Lance and trying to relieve some of the tension from the moment. “I never really expected much out of this whole soulmate thing.”

Lance is staring at him now, his jaw slack in surprise. Then his brows furrow and he frowns.

“You never looked forward to meeting your soulmate?”

“Not really,” Keith frowns and shrugs. “I guess I just thought I’d deal with it when it happened.”

“Oh. Well, sorry I didn’t make the best first impression.”

Keith snorts. He can’t help it. He feels like telling Lance that the only reason he came over was to get the itching to stop, but he doesn’t. He doesn’t want to offend Lance, he promised himself he would at least give his soulmate a chance.

“That’s alright. I understand.” Keith says. He pauses, Lance’s eyes are so blue, and still so hesitant. “I don’t expect anything from you,” he adds.

“Oh.”

“If you want to forget about this whole thing, that’s okay.”

Lance frowns and opens his mouth to speak, but he hesitates. He glances over his shoulder at his friend, who gives him an encouraging nod. When he turns back his face is pinched.

“Would you at least like to get coffee or something?” he asks.

It’s Keith’s turn to be surprised. This night is full of surprises.

“Uh. Sure,” he responds and Lance gives him a tentative smile.

 

— — —

 

Lance is late.

Keith shouldn’t be disappointed, but he is a little. Oh well, he gave this soulmate thing a shot. No one can say he didn’t try. If Lance isn’t interested, Keith can move on. He was already prepared to.

Keith is almost to the door of the coffee shop when it flies open and a disheveled Lance crashes through, chest heaving and puffing as he tries to catch his breath. He looks like he’s been through a hurricane.

“You’re… still here,” he says between huffs of breath, eyes falling on Keith.

“I was just about to leave.”

Lance looks like he’s about to collapse. Keith wraps an arm around him and guides him to a seat.

“Are you okay?” Keith asks.

Lance nods. He seems to catch his breath after a minute.

“My car broke down. I had to run the rest of the way here. I didn’t have your number to let you know, and I didn’t want to lose this chance.” Lance explains. Keith feels heat rise to his face. “I’ve been thinking a lot about this for the past week, you know, since we met, and I think… I think I really want to give this a chance. If you do?”

Keith chokes down his surprise and nods.

“Yeah. I’d like to at least get to know you.”

Lance smiles.

“How about that coffee, then?”

“Sounds great,” Keith replies.

They talk about a lot of things. Keith learns that Lance has a large family, several brothers and sisters and some nieces and nephews. He learns that Lance’s family is from Cuba, and that they vacation there every year. Lance shares about his love of the beach and his love of space. He talks a lot about his friend Hunk, the one that was with him in the dance club.

“How long have you been friends?” Keith asks.

“Since we were kids.” Lance smiles. “We used to get into all sorts of trouble. Still do, actually. Hunk is my best friend. He just met his soulmate, too. Only a few days before we met. She seems pretty great.” Lance pauses. “That guy that you were with, at the dance club, he’s your friend?”

Lance seems hesitant to ask the question, like he’s afraid to ask it. Keith wonders if Lance is actually trying to ask another question.

“He’s my brother,” Keith answers. “He wanted to get me out of the house after my last breakup… and for my birthday.”

“It was your birthday?”

“My birthday was four days before we met.” Keith feels a little sheepish.

“Wow, hell of a birthday gift, huh? Meeting your soulmate?”

Keith huffs a small laugh. Meeting Lance was definitely unexpected.

They talk more about their lives and about themselves. Keith tells Lance about his parents and his childhood. He skims briefly over his dating history. He tells Lance about his motorcycle and how he loves to watch sunrises and sunsets. He talks about Matt and Pidge, and how they all grew up together as next door neighbors.

“Oh man, it sounds like Hunk would get along great with Pidge,” Lance says after Keith shares about the time Pidge won first place at a science fair. “Hunk loves tinkering with stuff, and testing things. I think they could be good friends.”

“We’ll have to introduce them.”

Lance smiles at him. “So you think you might keep me around for a while?”

“Hmm.” Keith pretends to think about it. The truth is, he’s starting to like Lance. At least, so far. He wouldn’t mind getting to know him more. “Maybe.” He says, smirking.

Lance seems to read him, though, and he laughs in response.

They talk in the coffee shop for several hours before getting up to part ways. This time, though, they exchange phone numbers.

“Do you have a way to get home?” Keith asks as they walk through the door.

“Yeah. I texted Hunk and he’s coming to get me.”

Keith smiles as he swings his leg over his motorcycle. “Good. I’ll see you next week, for our date.”

Lance blushes and nods.

Keith smiles all the way home.

 

— — —

 

Their first official date is amazing. Keith has to pick Lance up because his car is still in the shop. He borrows Shiro’s car, because he’s a gentleman, and that way he doesn’t have to worry about Lance being uncomfortable with the close proximity. They go to dinner and Keith says goodnight at the door, but he doesn’t kiss Lance. He doesn’t want to push anything, especially when Lance was so unsure at first. He wants to give Lance time.

Their second date goes just as well. They been hanging out in between and are learning so much about each other. Keith has started to notice just how well they compliment each other. Lance is outgoing where Keith is shy. He’s patient and reasoned where Keith is impulsive, but Keith helps him try new things. When Lance is unsure, Keith is confident. They fit together so well. It makes Keith’s heart light and his stomach fill with butterflies.

This time, when they say goodnight, Lance leans in to kiss him. Keith gets that same feeling from when he first heard Lance’s voice. Kissing Lance is like a breath of fresh air, a refreshing drink when he’s parched.

Keith wants to kiss him again, and again, and again. Lance makes his heart flutter and his stomach tie itself in knots. His heart thuds and freezes in Lance’s presence. When he thinks about Lance, his whole face flushes down to his neck. No one else has ever had such an effect on Keith. It’s intoxicating.

“Do you want to be my boyfriend?” Keith asks as they watch the sunset one evening.

Lance is leaning into him, his head resting on Keith’s shoulder. They’ve been going on regular dates, and Keith has wanted to ask for a while. Now seems like the perfect time. Lance turns his face into Keith’s shoulder and he can feel Lance smile.

“I would love to.” he whispers.

“Good,” Keith says, “because I think I’m falling for you.”

“Oh,” Lance sits up and smiles at Keith, “That’s good because I’m definitely falling for you.”

Keith leans forward to kiss his boyfriend, his heart light and full of joy.

_Maybe there’s something to this soulmate thing after all._

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. Feel free to leave comments, questions, and/or suggestions.


End file.
